Title An analysis of activity structures in physical education classes Author(s) S. K. S. Tan, J. Y. Chow and C. B. S. Lim Source Organised by

III International Conference of Physical Education and Sports Science (III ICPESS 2010) on “Youth in Physical Education and Sport”, Singapore, 25 - 28 May 2010 Physical Education & Sports Science Academic Group, National Institute of Education (Singapore)

This document may be used for private study or research purpose only. This document or any part of it may not be duplicated and/or distributed without permission of the copyright owner. The Singapore Copyright Act applies to the use of this document. Copyright © 2010 by National Institute of Education (Singapore)

200

Youth in Physical Education and Sport

AN ANALYSIS OF ACTIVITY STRUCTURES IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES

S.K.S. TAN, J.Y. CHOW AND C.B.S. LIM

Nationallnstiwte of Education, Nanyang Technological University, I Nanyang Walk, Singapore 63 7616, email: steven.tan@nie.edu.sg

In the past 2 decades, major progress in understanding the relationship between physical education (PE) instructional processes and learning outcomes had been made. Improved observational methods for assessing instructional processes and

the use of this information to better understand the teaching and learning context have contributed to this knowledge. However, the general quality of Singapore school PE instruction is relatively unknown due to a relative paucity of research in this area. The development and use of an appropriate observation protocol for

use in a PE lesson context can help record one or more instructional processes pertinent to PE in a school setting. The purpose of this study was to provide an analysis of activity structures in PE classes across the different grade levels. Data for this study were drawn primarily from 35 videotaped PE lessons across 8 schools in 19 content areas. The presentation will provide insights to the different activity structures most commonly observed in the different PE grade

settings. Furthermore, opportunities for students to achieve the different objectives of PE as indicated in the PE curriculum will also be highlighted, together with recommendations to support the teaching and learning of PE in

schools.

Intr oduction

PE offers excellent opportunities for helping chi ldren develop their critical thinking skills. This is because learning always involves the physical and intellectual spheres. In add ition, many of the mental processes needed to enhance physical performance are essential components of critical thinking. These include broad and adventurous thinking, causal and evaluative reasoning. planning and strategic thinking and meta-cognition. This

is especially important for Singapore schools as a result of the MOE adopting the 'Thinking Schools, Learning Nation' vision in 1997.

During the past 2 decades, major progress in understanding the relationship between classroom instructional processes and learning outcomes in both general and PE have been made. Improved observational methods for assessing classroom instructional processes and the use of this in formation to better understand the teaching and learning context have contributed to this knowledge. However, the general quality of Singapore

school PE instruction is relatively unknown due to a relative paucity of research in this area. Therefore, tJ1e development and use of an appropriate classroom observation

protocol for usc in a PE lesson context can help record one or more instructional processes, such as (a) the behaviour of the teacher, (b) the behaviour ofstudent(s), (c) the way content ~s presented, and (d) the interactions between and among these variables.

The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the interactive and environmental events that occur in PE settings. This study helps to provide inferential

data to address the following learning objectives in the Singapore PE syllabus: (I) Teaching and the application of thinking skills in PE lessons; (2) Teaching and demonstrating the spirit of fair play, team work and sportsmanship during practices and game play; and (3) Teaching and opportunities for learning and practicing skills and concepts.

2 Methods

Data Sources. Data for this study were drawn primarily from videotaped PE lessons across the different grade levels. A total of 35 videotaped lessons across 8 schools in 19 content areas were sampled for this study.

Table I. Frequency of Lessons Videotaped by Content Areas by School Levels.

SchooiLeveV Primary Level Secondary Level Junior College Level

Content Areas (n = 3 schools) (n = 3 schools) (n = 2 schools)

Badminton I I Basketball 4 Cricket Dance I Floorball 2 Frisbee Gymnastics Movement Education

2 (Hula Hoops, Parachute) Netball 2 Pickle Ball Rock-Climbing Rope-skipping Soccer 2 Softball I Swimming I Table Tennis Touch Rugby Track & Field (Javelin) I Volleyball I 3 Total (N) 18 13 4

Table l indicates the number of videotaped lessons collected across the different

school levels in the different content areas. The project attempted to collect lessons from as wide a variety of content areas as possible without influencing and dictating the content to be taught by the teachers in these schools. The 35 videotapes covered all grade levels (Primary I - 6, Secondary I - 4, JC I & 2) with at least 3 lessons each from the

201

202

Primary and Secondary grade levels, and only 2 lessons from each of the two Junior

College levels. There was an additional Secondary level lesson videotaped. Development of Coding instrument. Prior to data coding, the research team studied

the Singapore pedagogy coding instrument developed by the Centre of Research for Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP: Luke et a/., 2004), which included the training process,

coding protocol, and coding sheet. The principal investigator had attended two training workshops conducted by CRPP and was very familiar and experienced with the use of

observation systems in research processes. TI1e CRPP coding instrumentation was identified for use in this study primarily for

three reasons. First, the suitability of the instrument to help capture data of relevance to help investigators make inference about what is happening in Singapore PE classes. Second, as an added advantage, the use of this similar (but adapted} instrument allows for

consistency in collection and analysis of data in PE and the ease of comparison with the data obtained in other subject areas using this coding instrument. finally, it has been demonstrated in the CRPP's study (Luke et a/., 2005) that observers could be trained to

use the instrument to code observed data reliably across different coders, and that the validity and reliability of this coding instrumentation have been previously established.

The original coding instrument was analysed by at least 5 members of the research team, including a representative from the MOE PE Unit, to determine the feasibility of

the coding instrument in answering the research questions and to identify coding items of • fit and where items needed to be adapted for the PE curriculum. The final coding instrument was performed as described below.

2. 1. Frami11g

Under this category, phases are ftrst identified. Phases are defined as distinct shifts in 'activity structure' (e.g., whole class lecture to group elicitation and discussion within group practice to small group practice = 3 phases). For each phase, the school, the teacher's identity, the duration and order of phase, the physical arrangement, the class

and class size, the topic(s), the proportion engaged, the amount and types of talk, the coder's identity, the date, and the sequence of activities are noted.

For use in the PE context, adaptations were made from the original instrument in the following items included under this category:

•Framing - Physical arrangements categories are modified to include organisation of students specific toPE lessons.

• Phase - New phases or 'activity structures' specific to PE are included and those not relevant arc removed from the list.

•Talk - The 'Test Strategy' talk category was removed.

2.2. Social S upport a11d Ethos

Observed teacher's encouragement is noted under 'Social Support' while the ethos focused on by the teacher is noted under 'Ethos'.

2.3. Knowledge Classification

The focus of this category is on how knowledge is presented and represented to students. The focus is on teacher-led observable behaviour. The scales are coded on depth or complexity. Items included are source of knowledge, rationale, teacher's and student's tools used, breadth and depth of knowledge presented, and knowledge manipulation/criticism by the students.

2.4. Weaving

This refers to the degree to which the teacher shifts teaching in the levels or kinds of knowledge. It is not just a matter of random shifts or topic switches, or another form of representation of the knowledge. The teacher actually systematically moves students into

different, more complex levels or kinds of knowledge, making connections between these in sophisticated and complex ways. The degree of purpose of the weaving increases when the teacher indicates clearly the intellectual reasons for the weaving. Weaving types include weaving within a phase and between phases.

2.5. Task Framing

Under this section, how the act1v1ty is framed is noted, as well as the use of any scafTolding, that is, the degree of support, guidance, and direction provided by the tear.}ler to help the students to learn to do a given task.

2.6. Procedures

Members of the research team met on several occasions with the principal investigator to

finalise the different categories and items of the coding PE instrument. Decisions were recorded in the notes of the meetings. Any questions and issues with both the definitions and protocols were recorded and clarification sought with experienced research members from CRPP who were very familiar with the initial development and use of the coding instrument.

To improve the inter-observer reliability, two members of the research team consistently coded all the lesson videotapes independently. Prior to actual coding, several videos of PE lessons were collected and used during training to help the two members reach an acceptable level of reliability. The inter-observer reliability during the training was .86. During the actual coding of research videotapes, inter-observer reliability was established and checked over two separate occasions and were .90 on both occasions.

Data from the actual coding was analysed using SPSS 16.0 for Windows.

203

204

3 Results and Discussion

3. 1. Pltases

A phase is defmed as a distinct shift in 'activity structure' identified based on the nature of the sustained activity. The duration of each phase observed in the lessons was recorded and converted to seconds and a percentage calculated of the total class time. The

sustained phases observed by mean percentage of class time for the PE classes across the different school leve ls are presented in Table 2. Figures I, 2 and 3 illustrate the typical allocation of time in a PE class for a Primary, Secondary and Junior College class, respectively.

The predominant phase observed in the PE lessons across all school levels was the

wbole c lass lecture or teacher monologue (M = 45.31 %). This means that students are generally not involved in any PA or moving during this phase, and that the teacher is generally involved in some fonn of verbal communication. Therefore, it can be assumed that for about 54.69% of the class time, students were at least provided with some opportunities for PA since these other phases tended to be movement-related (i.e., practice, fitness and conditioning, game play).

Table 2. Phases by Percentage ofTotal Class Time.

Phases by Primary Secondary Junior College Total Percentage I

School Levels Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Whole Class

44.41 17.42 45.05 20.81 50.22 2.59 45.31 17.56 Lecture Group

Ehc1tation & DISCUSSiOn .08 .35 .04 .25

Within Group Practice

Individual 20.18 27.96 8.24 12.00 1.03 2.05 13.56 22.24

Practice

Pa1r Practice 11 .29 17.44 16.05 19.07 4.42 5.44 12.27 17.21

Small Group 8.78 16.83 2.55 6.21 2.95 5.90 5.80 12.96 Practice

Fitness & 9.58 20.16 6.69 10.16 26.02 17.39 10.38 17.34 Conditioning

Assessment 14.06 23.90 5.22 15.78

Takmg

Game Play 5.68 12.22 7.36 15.86 15.36 24.45 7.41 15.01

Fortunately, this percentage for the whole class lecture phase tended to decrease from the Junior College level (M = 50.22%) to the Primary levels (M = 44.41 %). For the Junior Colleges, this meant that more than 50% of the time in these classes, the students were actually listening to the teacher talk or were responding to teachers' questions, while Primary school PE teachers appeared to talk less.

Fitness&

8 9.58%

Practice 8.78%

Game Play\ 5.68% \

Group Elicitation & Discussion

Within Group

Practice 0.08%

Figure I . Typical PE Class Time Allocation in a Primary School.

Fitness&

Practice 2.55~

Practice 8.24%

Figure 2. Typical PE Class Time Allocation in a Secondary School.

205

206

Small Group Practice Pair Practice 2.95% 4.42%

Practice 1.03%

Figure 3. Typical PE Class Time Allocation in a Junior College.

Taking all instances of practices (i.e., total percentage based on individual, pair and group practices) recorded, Primary school students spent the most time in practices (M =

40.25%), followed by Secondary school students (M = 26.84%). However, Junior College students' PA in the PE lessons tended to be more of game play (M = 15.36%) rather than practices (M = 8.4%). Unfortunately, Secondary and Primary school students exhibited a higher percentage of time practicing their skills, and a much smaller percentage of time in game play (M = 7.36% and 5.68%, respectively).

3.2. Perce11tage Talk

The amount of percentage talk observed during the different phases of the PE lessons is presented in Table 3. Specific to the whole class lecture (or teacher monologue) phase,

teachers appeared to talk close to 59% of the time. It can be concluded that approximately 4 I% of this phase, students involvement were either generally assisting the teacher with providing some demonstrations, or responding to teacher's questions. In addition, waiting and transition time were also included under this and accounted for pan of this 41% of teachers' non-talking time in the phase of the whole class lecture.

From the results, it was observed that teacher talk occurred not only during the whole

class lecture phase, which was expected, but also across the various movement-related phases such as during the practices and game play phases. Talk time during practices and

game play accounted for about 33% and 23% respectively. It was expected that during these phases, teachers would be observed providing feedback or clarifying instructions and information for students to accomplish the task or game.

Table 3. Phases by Percentage of Talk.

Phases Percentage Talk

Mean so

Whole Class Lecture 58.40 18.97

lndividual Practice 33.33 20.60

Pair Practice 33.32 20.44

Small Group Practice 32.94 12.63

Game Play 22.38 13.29

3.3. Type of Talk

For percentage of talk time, teachers' talk can be sub-divided into four different categories: (a) organisational, (b) regulatory, (c) curriculum-related, and (d) informal. The percentages of the four talk sub-items identified across the various phases are depicted in Table 4.

Table 4. Percentage of Talk Sub-Items by Phases.

Organisational Regulatory Curriculum- Informal Phases I Talk Talk related Talk Talk

Types ofTalk Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Whole Class Lecture 27.92 24.3 2.99 6.6 66.91 26.8 2.18 3.6

Individual Pracuce 12.78 16.7 1.94 6.6 85.00 19.1 0.28 0.0

Pair Practice 18.06 24.1 1.61 8. 1 77.58 26.4 2.75 9.4

Small Group 20.00 25.0 0.29 1.2 78.82 25.1 0.89 2.0 Practice

Game Play 20.33 25.0 4.33 14.2 72.67 30.3 2.67 3.3

Therefore, not surprisingly, teachers observed in these classes were very directed in their teaching and limited their talk primarily to either curriculum-related and for organisational issues. Organisational talk was observed to occur higher during whole class lecture (M = 27.92%) as compared to the other movement-related phases. This makes logical sense as these teachers tended to discuss organisational matters related to

207

208

either practices or game plays during this whole class lecture phase of their instruction.

Furthermore, the more complex small group practices and game plays warranted a higher percentage of time for organisation (M = 20.0%) as compared to individual practices (M = 12.8%).

Generally, more than 72% of talk was curriculum-related and was directed during both the practice and game play phases. The relatively low percentage of regulatory talk

(M < 5%) coupled with this percentage for curriculum-related talk augments well for what is happening in our PE classes. Even though the percentage of time spent by

students during practices and game play is relatively encouraging from the results discussed earlier (see Table 2), it is noteworthy to comment that the PE teachers observed in this study were very on-task in presenting the curriculum content for their lessons.

The percentage of talk related to regulatory issues across all PE lessons observed, surprisingly, is very low, and accounts for less than 5% across all phases and school

levels. Informal chit-chats were also observed to occur less than 3% of class time. This generally implies that for these teachers, they were not distracted with major issues of discipline and classroom management during the PE teaching. Furthermore. the teachers also appeared to digress less from the main focus of their lesson's intentions and objectives. What is also surprising from this study is that regulatory talk was observed to occur primarily during game play as compared to the other phases. This observation could be explained on the account that some students tended to 'fool around' during this.

phase as they viewed it to be less serious than those practice sessions.

3.4. K11ow/edge Classijicatio11

The focus here is on how knowledge is presented and represented to students. The focus is on teacher-led observable behaviour, and the scales are coded on depth or complexity from a scale of 0 (Nil) to 3 (Almost Always). For this study, four taxonomic orders of knowledge were coded: (i) factuaUrotelbasic; (ii) procedural/bow to; (iii) conditional/ when to; and (iv) advanced concepts. The four different taxonomies of knowledge

presented in the PE lessons observed across the different phases are presented in Table 5. The results from this study indicate that PE teachers tended to 'almost always'

present to the students procedural information; how to perform the skills and strategies required for the practice task and game. This is very logical as one major aspect of learning skills and movement is about learning how to execute the desired skill, and our PE teachers were achieving this aspect very effectively as demonstrated by the high mean

score of2.44 and above across all the phases. However, what was observed to be Jacking in the lessons was teaching to engage the students in more advanced thinking with the PE content, and understanding the content. Both conditional knowledge and advanced concepts were almost non-existent in the teaching observed.

Historically, instructional pedagogics worldwide have focused extensively on the mechanics and techniques of skill development and games teaching, rather than on the

skillful application of skills and strategies in game situations. Teaching PE in Singapore schools is no different. However, the Games Concept Approach (GCA) to teaching

games, introduced in Singapore schools in 2000, offers an alternative to the traditional,

technique-led approaches to games teaching and learning, and is based on a model that focuses on developing learners' abilities to understand and play games. In this instance, the rightful application of the GCA could offer a solution to what is currently lacking in the PE lessons as highlighted in the above paragraph.

Table 5. Taxonomic Orders of Knowledge Presented Across the Different Phases.

Phases I Factual/Rotc/Basic Procedural/ Conditional/ Advanced

Depth of How to When to conceets

Knowledge Menn so Mean so Mean so Mean so Whole Class

Lecture 1.28 .80 2.60 .77 .04 .20 .03 .30

Individual Practice 1.31 .98 2.44 1.08 .00 .00 .08 .50

Pa1r Practice 1.16 .74 2.7t .74 .06 .25 .00 .00

Small Group .94 .24 3.00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 Practice

Game Play 1.29 .85 2.57 .93 .00 .00 .00 .00

3.5. Knowledge Manipulation

The opportunities for student to handle, construct and deconstruct knowledge in their learning were observed by the degree of occurrences of knowledge manipulation during

the different phases. from a scale of 0 (Nil) to 3 (Almost Always). For this study, knowledge manipulation by students was categorised into 3 sub-items: (a) reproduction, (b) application/problem solving, and (c) generation of knowledge new to students. The different levels of knowledge manipulation observed across the different phases are presented in Table 6.

Skill development and game performance are both about reproduction and application. The nature of technique-led approaches to teaching in PE requires the reproduction of physical movements. The results in this study clearly indicate ample

opportunities were provided (M ~ 2.5) for students to reproduce movements introduced earlier by the teacher during the various practice options. Unfortunately, application and problem solving opportunities were practically absent from these practice opportunities. However, consistent with this approach, the majority of students' application and

problern solving experiences occur during the game play phase and a much smaller percentage during small group practices.

ln this instance again, the use of the GCA will increase the opportunities for application and problem solving, not only during game play, but also during practices. The GCA provides opportunities for students in learning the tactics and strategies of

game play in tandem with technique development. Although techniques are developed using drills during practices, as in the case of the tTaditional instructional approach as

209

210

observed in these lessons. all teaching and practices occur within the framework of game play and modified game form in the GCA. Consequently, this allows for increased opportunities for higher order thinking skills and generation of knowledge new to students.

Table 6. Taxonomic Orders of Knowledge Manipulation across the Different Phases.

Application/ Generation of Phases I Reproducuon Problem Knowledge Nc"

Knowledge Solvmg to Students Manipulation

Mean so Mean so Mean so Whole Cluss

.37 .55 .05 .30 .00 .00 Lecture Individual

2.54 .65 .00 .00 .00 .00 Practice

Pair Practice 2.97 .17 .00 .00 .00 .00

Small Group 3.00 .00 .53 1.18 .00 .00 Practice

Game Play .14 .66 2.48 .81 .00 .00

3.6. Weaving

In weaving, the teacher consciously relates the information and content presented to students in ways that will help them understand and appreciate the knowledge. This could be relating theoretical knowledge to a practical application, or from understanding knowledge from an individual-level to that at the societal-level.

Table 7. Categories of Weaving within the Different Phases.

Phases

Whole Class Lecture Total Practice*

Game Play

Weaving Mean SO .50 1.06 .04 .00

.24

.00

The different categories of weaving within the different phases are presented in Table 7. It is clear from the low mean scores across the three different phases that these PE teachers generally did not attempt to weave their presented information to other knowledge base to further enhance students' appreciation and understanding of the curriculum.

4 Recommendations and Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the interactive and environmental eventS that occur in PE settings. This study provides data that can help

infer aspects of teaching in achieving the following learning objectives in the Singapore PE syUabus: (I) Teaching and the application of thinking skills in PE lessons; (2) Teaching and demonstrating the spirit of fair play, team work and sportsmanship during practices and game play; and (3) Teaching and opportunities for learning and practicing

skills and concepts. From the results presented in the earlier sections, it is c lear that there are certain

positive indications for PE teaching in Singapore schools: (a) PE teachers are task­oriented and focused on presenting curricular content to their students; (b) PE teachers do not appear to spend a lot of instructional time managing misbehaviours of their students in their PE classes; (c) PE teachers do provide their students with numerous opportunities to learn and practice skills, concepts, team work and sportsmanship during practices and game plays, even though the percentage of class time ranges from only 7% to 14%.

However, the results indicated that there are a few areas in which PE teaching can

improve and help schools achieve the objectives in the Singapore PE syllabus: (a) PE teachers tended to lecture close to about 50% of class time. This percentage could be reduced significantly. and the additional time could be used for encouraging students to learn and apply thinking skills more during games and practices; (b) PE tended to rely on the traditional, technique-led instructional approach to teaching, thus reducing the opportunities for students to apply decision-making and problem solving skills during

practices; (c) PE teachers, especially in the upper Primary and lower Secondary school levels, can adopt the use of the GCA more in their teaching as these are the most appropriate school levels for use of the GCA. The GCA will encourage students to engage in explorative learning that supports the vision of 'Thinking Schools, Learning Nation' by MOE (Light, & Tan, 2006; McNeill eta/., 2004; McNeill eta/., 2008; Tan et a/., 2002; Tan, 2005): (d) PE teachers can encourage their students' higher order thinking processes by presenting the PE curriculum at the higher knowledge taxonomies, in

addition to providing facts and procedural information; (e) PE teachers can stimulate students' interest and understanding of the PE curriculum if they can weave and help make more connections with the PE knowledge base in their teaching.

In conclusion, the present study highlights the importance of what PE teachers are doing well in their classes, and what could be improved to enhance the teaching of PE.

With the development of PE teachers over the past decade, a large proportion of PE professionals have both the knowledge base and abilities to teach the wide variety of movement skills and activities recommended in the syllabus. This is clearly reflected in the PE classes observed for this study. Professionally, these teachers are delivering the PE curriculum in as much as what students should be teaming and practicing in relation to the various skills and game activities. However, the challenge is for PE teachers to

maximize opportunities using the PE curriculum and instructional time; to adopt pedagogics that will encourage higher order thinking skills and interactions among students effectively within the allotted class time.

211

212

References

Light R. and Tan S. (2006) Culture, embodied experience and teacher development of TGfU in Australia and S ingapore, European Physical Education Review, 12/ 1, 99-117.

Luke A., Freebody P., Cazden C. and Lin A. (2004) Singapore Pedagogy Coding Scheme. Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of

Education, Singapore. Luke A., Frecbody P., Lau S. and Gopinathan S. (2005) Towards research-based

innovation and reform: Singapore schooling in transition, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 25, 5-28.

McNeill M.C., Fry J.M., Wright S.C., Tan C., TanS. and Schempp P. (2004) 'In the local context': Singaporean challenges to teaching games on practicum, Sport, Education & Society, 9/1, 3-32.

McNeill M.C., Fry J.M., Wright S.C., Tan C.W.K. and Rossi T. (2008) Structuring time and questioning to achieve tactical awareness in games lessons, Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 13/3, 231-249.

Tan S., Wright S., McNeill M., Fry J. and Tan C. (2002) Implementation of the games concept approach in Singapore schools: A preliminary report, Review of educational research and advances for classroom teachers. 21 I I , 77-84.

Tan S. (2005) Implementing teaching games for understanding: Stories of change. In • Griffin L. and Butler J. (Eds.) An introduction to teaching Games for Understanding. Human Kinetics, Champaign, I L.